On September 6, 2014, Prentice won the leadership election, becoming both the leader of the Progressive Conservatives and as such the Premier, as his party held a majority in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.

[3] As Premier of Alberta, Prentice formed a new cabinet consisting of some members from the previous government, but also new Ministers including two who did not hold seats in the Legislature—Stephen Mandel and Gordon Dirks.

In the election, Prentice's PCs suffered an unprecedented defeat, dropping to third place in the legislature with just 10 seats – ending 44 years of Tory rule in Alberta, the longest consecutive reign for any political party at the provincial level in Canada.

Despite winning re-election in Calgary-Foothills, on election night Prentice resigned as both PC leader and MLA and retired from politics after results indicated that the Alberta NDP had won a majority government.

[11] In his personal life, Prentice served for seven years on the Board of Directors at the Calgary Winter Club, including stints as president and Chairman.

[15] He ran in the 2003 Progressive Conservative leadership election to support the "United Alternative" proposal to merge the PC party with the Canadian Alliance.

Prentice entered the 2003 convention day with some momentum, after delivering a passionate speech to the assembled delegates that encouraged Tories to be proud of their accomplishments, despite recent setbacks, and that recalled the sacrifices of Canadian soldiers who fought in the Battle of Passchendaele.

[20] After being sworn in as the MP for Calgary Centre North on July 16, Conservative Party Leader Stephen Harper named Prentice to the Shadow Cabinet as the Official Opposition Critic for Indian and Northern Affairs.

That figure includes $2.2 billion in compensation for victims of abuse in residential schools (another deal that was worked out with the previous government) and $300 million for off-reserve housing.

[33] Michael Geist, Canada Research Chair of Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa, has suggested that the core desire of the draft legislation is "to satisfy U.S. pressure by enacting something very close to the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act".

[34] Prentice did not immediately provide a rationale for not discussing the issue with CBC Radio Canada despite the hundreds of questions that flooded in from concerned Canadians.

[35] He also refused to talk to a group of protesters who went to his office to express their concern, stating "When Canadian Heritage Minister Josée Verner and I have reached a consensus and we're satisfied, we will introduce a bill.

[39] On a 10-minute interview with the CBC's Search Engine radio program he dismissed any question related to digital rights management as "extremely technical" and claimed that the market will take care of copy protected CDs.

Most notably, Jim Prentice hung up before answering Jesse Brown's final question about who, under this bill, would have the power to investigate potential copyright violations.

The edits included the removal of references to new copyright legislation (claiming that it did not exist) and the addition of two passages about Prentice's recent accomplishments as Minister of Industry.

[41] Jay Walsh, spokesman for the Wikimedia Foundation, said in an interview there are tens of thousands of living people with biographies on Wikipedia, "so challenges about information are not uncommon."

"[42] In a February 29, 2008, speech to the Toronto Board of Trade Prentice rejected the concept of direct subsidies to the auto industry, insisting that setting up a strong economic foundation is a better route to strengthen the business.

[45] New Democratic Party MP Charlie Angus raised the issue to Prentice in the House of Commons and said the government's "hands off" approach was bad for Canadian innovation.

[45] Prentice said that the issue is being appropriately handled by the Federal government agency the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), which invited the general public to an open debate on net neutrality.

[46] After initially appearing to take a stand on the issue,[47] Prentice refused to intervene when Telus and Bell started charging 15 cents for incoming SMS text messages despite widespread opposition by consumer groups.

This decision was made after Prentice dialogued with senior Bell and Telus executives and suggested that consumers "seek alternatives", even in Canada's limited-competition cellular industry.

His resignation raised some questions with the opposition; NDP leader Jack Layton expressed concern over the apparent connection between Ministers and the large banks.

His recommendations for cabinet appointments included two people, former Edmonton mayor Stephen Mandel and former Calgary Board of Education trustee Gordon Dirks, who were not members of the Legislative Assembly.

"[64] The defections were termed by a journalist as "an unprecedented move in Canadian political history", although they did not change the overall make-up of the legislature – the Conservatives still held a vast majority of the seats, and the Wildrose Party remained the Official Opposition.

[69][70] The Progressive Conservatives were already lagging in polls behind the resurgent Wildrose Party led by Brian Jean, as Prentice's pre-election budget was deeply unpopular with both the left and right in the political spectrum while only "business leaders thought it was tough but fair".

[82] At the Wilson Center, he wrote the book Triple Crown: Winning Canada’s Energy Future with Jean-Sebastien Rioux that was published posthumously by HarperCollins on February 21, 2017.

[83][84] Prentice was appointed as a senior advisor to private equity firm Warburg Pincus LLC in June 2016, specializing in the energy industry.

[87] In April 2018, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada reported that while no conclusive reason for the crash could be determined, it was likely that the pilot had experienced spatial disorientation shortly after takeoff, having had little experience flying at night.

Painted by David Goatley, it depicts Prentice "standing on the third floor of the Alberta legislature, hands resting on the marble railing, eyes looking off in the distance.